Freedom to Run, Freedom to Live
by Aitrus5
Summary: Catherine escapes from her prison, but can she help her people escape as well?


This is a rather simple fic work...wrote this little thing while listening to Track 16 on the Riven soundtrack. I blame Robyn Miller.  
  
For the Jackal. :jackal:  
  
  
  
  
Freedom to Run, Freedom to Live.  
  
"You did it....we're all free..."  
---Catherine---  
  
  
~Freedom!~  
  
Catherine was a revkhar, dancing through the endless forests. Her long black hair streamed from her head as she ran from the Tree to the pustle fire-marble dome.   
  
~I am free!~ She wanted to shout with joy. To dive into the ocean and swim into its depths, envelope herself in her Age's womb. Fling herself onto the sand and wriggle, drink in the sensation at having no bars, no barriers, no burdens to cross, and no reason to think of things that could not be changed.   
  
~The nightmare is over.~   
  
The dome opened too slowly. She had to stop herself from pushing against it.   
  
Her breathing stopped for an instant as she witnessed the...the ~wrongness~ of the geography of Gehn's Age. But she had no time to ponder it's wonders.  
  
~I must save them.~   
  
She linked, and felt her body dissolve into nothingness, and yet, paradoxically, she could feel everything. ~I'm coming, Atrus. Sirrus, Achenar. I'll be with you soon, my boys. Just a little more time.~  
  
A quick glance around to make sure none of Gehn's puppets were waiting.   
  
The faulty Books were before her. She only had to discern which one led to the village.  
  
As she looked at each Gateway Image, she ripped out handfulls of pages with a glee that startled her. She saw her own prison from the outside for the first time. ~I cannot go back there again...~ she thought, leaving the rest to be said only in future half-remembered nightmares...   
  
Catherine tore the Gateway page in half.  
  
Look closely. There. That was the island where her home was. She linked again. Got out of the stifling fire-marble dome and ran the wrong direction in her fervor, giving a shriek when she trampled across the metal catwalk and came across the golden throne where Gehn sat when he...when he...  
  
~Quiet your thoughts!~ she cursed at herself. ~There's no time!~  
  
She ran. Her lungs burned. The book bounced against her thigh, imprisoned in her clothing. A whark waiting to explode out of the water.   
  
~How do you like it, my Lord and Master of a Thousand Worlds? I hope you go mad. I hope you grow old and infirm. I hope you do not die right away. I hope you try to make a Book thousands of times and you will fail at each and every one. You will walk the island and swim for other lands and shout for someone, anyone, to help you, until your Voice is lost and your Will is gone. And finally, when your hope dies within you as it should have a lifetime ago, I hope you die cursing my name. Katran!~  
  
The elevator was just ahead. ~I'm coming, Atrus.~  
  
The whark jaws opened, and she stepped out, blinking at the glowing swamp water.   
  
"Lopayah voisa!" ~Stop, woman!~  
  
Her muscles tensed to run. Two of Gehn's cloaked worshipers stared at her as if she had sprung from the mouth of their himself. In a way, she had. ~I have no time for this!~  
  
"Gehn is gone." Catherine said quickly, not aggrivating the issue by elaborating. "Hurry. You can still come with the village to saftey."  
  
"Lies from a traitor!" cried one.  
  
"We ~must~ hurry!" she pleaded. "Riven is ~dying~!"  
  
"I don't believe you!" the other snarled, though the look on his face was one of fear.  
  
Her heart grew cold. It had come to this. Some would be left behind.  
  
Her face tightened as she leaped. "Then I will dream of you so that you will live on in some way."   
  
Surprise flooded the first man's face as she drove her fist into his chin, putting all her months of pent up frustration into one blow. He collapsed with a bellow. She snatched up his bone staff and pointed it at the other stunned man, who made no move to attack. "This Age is dying." she stated coldly. "The madman who you follow is gone, his false promises no longer have meaning. Run ahead of me and live, for I will not have you follow."  
  
He gulped, turned, and ran past her towards the village.  
  
She sighed heavily and flung the staff into the swamp, and hurried after him. Prayed to the Maker that the one who freed her would succeed.   
  
~Run faster. Go. Save them. He'll take care of the signal.~  
  
She reached the watch tower, looked up. The young woman in it gaped down at her. In her red robes, even from far away she was recognizable. Good.  
  
"Sound...the alarm!" she shouted, gasping up at the astounded girl. "Then run...as fast as you can...to the village!"  
  
She gasped for air, angrily flung her hair out of her face, and kept running. The water burbled invitingly as she treked through the small cavern, and emerged in front of the village. She jogged across the dock, eyeing fearfully the scope which tracked her movement. A low moan of fear escaped her lips.  
  
~...Now they KNEW...~   
  
Some of the village was already climbing down their ladders, staring, crying out in wonder at her appearance. Children were crying and men were shouting and women were arguing.   
  
"What's going on?"  
"It's Katran! What do we do?"   
"Capture her!"  
"The world is ending!"  
"What is she doing here?"  
"Her Moiety are stirring up trouble again!"  
"Our savior has come!"  
"Lord Gehn will kill her for all that she has done!"  
"The wharks will be well fed tonight!"  
  
She plunged into the crowd, hands grabbing at her robes and pulling at her hair. "ETI!" she screamed. "ETI, where are you!" They washed over her like a wave, some wanting to drag her down, some wanting to carry her on their shoulders. All smothering her with something she didn't want, nor deserve.  
  
~I have to save them!~  
  
"ETI!" she shrieked over the din. "All of you, listen to me!"   
  
The crowd quieted somewhat, in an ever expanding wave as people informed others behind them that she was speaking.  
  
The eye was the only thing that was silent. The damnable thing was focused right on her! It seemed to be looking right at the book in her robes.   
  
She had little time. They might be here at any moment. More would die.   
  
And still she had not seen a signal.   
  
"Please, listen!" she shouted. "Gehn is gone! You are free of him!"  
  
The crowd muttered. Voices shouted questions. Angry talk resumed. Fear and disbelief pervated them all. Nobody moved.   
  
She ground her teeth in frustration. Atrus would have had some sort of plan. But she was not him.  
  
"ETI!" she cried out once more.   
  
"Katran!" a faint voice yelled from above. Her dark eyes were wide with fright.   
  
"Find K'inta and Molin!" she shouted. "Tell them I've banished Gehn, and to bring the Book to the village!"  
  
The crowd roars at this statement and children started to cry in terror. Things were getting out of control. "Why?!" Eti shouted back, infuriatingly.  
  
"Becaue they're Moiety!" she screamed. "They're the ones who will save us all!"  
  
She climbed down the ladders and throws a rope up to the stairway lining the other side of the gully. As Catherine watched, she disappeared into the caves.   
  
The crowds volume doubles at this statement. Catherine had so many voices shouting at her she nearly shut down. The anger was palpable, the confusion even more so. ~I can't do this.~   
  
~I can't DO this!~  
  
A hand grabbed her shoulder and Catherine whirled around, nearly striking the owner before realizing it was her old friend Enant. She sobbed and hugged him.  
  
"Katran, is it true!?" he said breathlessly when they pulled apart. "Are we all free of Lord Gehn?"  
  
"Yes!" she nearly yelled into his face. "We must leave this Age, Enant. We must go before the very world shakes apart!"  
  
Now the women were keening with fright, holding on to their children, and quite a few of the men were as well.   
  
"Listen to me!" she pleaded. "The Moiety are coming to take you all to a new place...a new home!"  
  
"Why should we trust the spirits?!" shouted a man.  
"Why should we trust you!"   
"How do we know Gehn is gone?" yelled a woman. "He will strike when we least expect it. For this alone he will feed us all to the Great Whark!"  
  
A rock struck her. She went down on one knee. "NO!" she shrieked.  
  
"If we give you to Gehn, he'll fix everything!" a man said, holding her down. "It's the only way!" he shouted to the crowd, which began nodding their heads.   
  
"No!" Enant shouted. "You fools, listen to her!"  
  
"You're a traitor too, Enant!"  
  
"Gehn is ~GONE~!" yelled Catherine. Her head was in agony.   
  
"We can't take that chance. How do you know!?" screamed a man into her face.   
  
Enant threw himself at the man, and the two degenerated into a fist-fight, the crowd crying out in rage and fear.   
  
Her gaze faltered, chin lowering. They weren't listening to her. The Maintainers were going to come and kill them all and if that didn't happen the world was going to shake apart to it's very foundations....  
  
~I didn't dream of this.~  
  
~They want a Savior? So be it.~  
  
A somber look enveloped her face. Her chin came up, and she straightened, turning in a circle as she held up the Prison Age. She opened it, and the villagers saw the spark of light flare as the image grew.   
  
"Because I trapped him with this!" she shouted in a voice to rival their lord himself.  
  
The crowd fell back in shock. Only the children remained wailing.  
  
And then the sky turned red.  
  
The people cried out in fear as the clouds boiled above them. Huge thunderclaps knocked several people to the ground and a strange smell of ozone began permeating the air. The ground trembled beneath them, a giant coughing. The air rushed all around them, heading in one direction, wind with a destiny.   
  
Catherine knew exactly what it was. The memories flooded her. Atrus tied to the pole. His look of betrayal that would haunt her forever. Gehn's terrible, sneering visage. The thunderous weather.   
  
The Fissure was open once again.  
  
~The signal!~   
  
"Can't you see!" she cried, thrusting the Prison book skyward, the flaring of the window answering the lightning forking downward. Her red robes swirled around her. "Your world is dying!"  
  
Wails of fear broke out among the people. Several flung themselves down in immediate supplication, others hurried into their homes to retrieve their loved ones and precious things.  
  
And then the Moiety came from the very walls, slinking along the docks and swimming fearlessly across the lagoon.   
  
The crowd barely noticed or cared, staring fearfully at the dark red sky, wincing in fear with every tremor.   
  
Molin, a tall Rivenese for his age, knelt at her feet. "We have come, Katran." he said reverently, his voice muffled by his mask. "Here are the Objects."  
  
The small, half burnt book that would save them all sparkled lightly in the Crystal window. She hoped her dream would be a good Age to live in.  
  
She tucked the Prison Age back into her clothing.   
  
"Listen to me!" she yelled over the thunder. "People of Riven!"  
  
All eyes turned from the dying sky to her living vibrance. "You must be brave and strong. You are leaving Riven forever. You shall make a new home, live under a sky without the eye of Gehn watching."  
  
The scope seemed to quiver under this statement.  
  
"Most of all..." she paused. "You shall be free!"   
  
A cheer went up from the Moiety, half-heartedly echoed by the villagers.  
  
"Now gather your families." she said. "And follow the Moiety instructions."  
  
"And," she added. "Live your lives without influence from any one...be it Gehn...or myself."   
  
She said the last without tone, without inflection. The words of Catherine.  
  
She slumped and would have fallen had Enant not caught her. "I must go." she said softly. "But before I leave, Enant, I must know...what of my father? I...I did not see him in the crowd..."  
  
Enant looked downard, mouth opening, then closing firmly.   
  
"Tell me." she whispered, voice nearly breaking.  
  
"He...he gave his life so that you would not be found." he said, head hung. "Lord Gehn could not stand one of his own Guildsman lying to protect you. He...he..." Enant could not go on, but indicated the Gallows behind her with a shake of his head.   
  
"Thank you, Enant." she said, swallowing her tears. She would grieve later. "I wish you well, my friend." She hugged him and sent him away.  
  
The crowd had formed long lines, the Moiety were running from person to person, having them link to their new home. Most disappeared with tears on their faces, some with elation. The women and children wept.  
  
"Molin!"   
  
"Yes, Katran?" he said reverently. He'd never left her side since she'd came to Riven. At first she'd found his prescence intolerable. He'd been injured in her capture, that she'd been sure of. Now he would lead her back to her own life.  
  
"I need to get to Allatwan."   
  
He bowed, fingering his blow-gun. "You will reach it even if you have to climb over my dead body, Katran." he swore.  
  
~One more innocent that will suffer because of me.~  
  
"Maintainers!" someone shouted.   
  
She stood on tiptoe and blanched as several men in white robes boiled out from the cavern across the lagoon and whooped and hollered, waving bone staffs as they made their way towards the traitorous people.  
  
"Protect them until they can leave!" Catherine yelled to the Moiety. She wondered if any of them were annoyed at the order beneath their masks. She neither knew nor cared anymore.  
  
Catherine and her guide made their way to a cave in the back of the village wall, and disappeared through a hidden door. The last thing she heard was the sounds of battle filtering through the sounds of linking. Bone struck flesh, cries hurt her ears, children wailing, men grunting.   
  
The ground trembled once again, rocks nearly striking her head. Thunder boomed and the dark red sky vanished as she moved further inward.   
  
~Well, I Saved them. Atrus, will you be proud of me? I am their Savior.~ She laughed so loud Molin was startled. It echoed until it changed to tears and she wept as she descended into the underground tunnels.  
  
Most of the tunnels were a blur of dirt and rock, tree roots snaking down to block their way, Molin never veering as he unerringly made his way in near total darkness directly under the sea. Tremors shook the ground, and she felt as if she would fall into a crevace and tumble until she hit the other side of the world. She never let go of his hand. Disciple leading the deity.  
  
Catherine trusted his judgement and they emerged on a ledge directly under the steps leading to the old Temple. The huge Golden Power Dome loomed over all. It too was already showing signs of wear, there was a huge gaping hole where part of it had fallen in.   
  
"I must leave you now, Katran." Molin said almost sadly. Greatly daring, he knelt and kissed her hand. "Thank you for saving us. I never lost faith in you. Tay will be a lonely place without you."  
  
"Farewell, Molin." Catherine said, voice shaking. "Live free."  
  
The last Rivenese she ever saw bowed once more, and disappeared back into the tunnels. She had never even seen his face.  
  
She climbed the rock until she stood at the edge of the cliff. The gigantic dagger next to the cage where she'd appeared all those months ago was gone, lost into the Fissure.   
  
Was Atrus here yet? She walked forward until she could see into the cage.   
  
~Please, Maker...~   
  
Her heart sank. Empty.  
  
"No..." she whispered.   
  
He'd not seen the signal.   
  
Voices behind her. She turned.  
  
And then, gloriously, she saw him.  
  
Well, his back anyway. She laughed. The first thing she heard was him asking a question. So like Atrus.  
  
"Where's Catherine? Where's the book?"  
  
Her world came back together.   
  
"Atrus!" she called.  
  
And then all that mattered was that he was there, and in her arms. Months of agony and guilt and worry were washed away by gentle tears and the first truly happy feeling she'd experienced in a long, long time. He pulled her tightly towards his chest and she in turn. His beard teased her wet cheek and she breathed in the scent of his being.   
  
~My people are free!~ she grinned hugely to herself. Praise to be Catherine.~ she suddenly, insanely thought.  
  
~And now...I am whole again.~ She hugged Atrus tightly. ~We shall never be apart again.~   
  
They went to thank their friend.  
  
  
  
The End. 


End file.
